A yacht is a watercraft used for pleasure or sports. The term originates from the Dutch word jacht (which means "hunt"), and was originally referencing light fast sailing vessels that the Dutch Republic navy used to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries. The yacht was popularized by Charles II of England as a pleasure or recreation vessel following his restoration in 1660.
Today's yachts differ from other vessels by their leisure purpose. A yacht is any sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising or racing. A yacht does not have to have luxury accommodations to be a yacht, in fact many racing yachts are stripped out vessels with the minimum of accommodations. The term 'sailboat' is sometimes used in America to differentiate sail from powerboat. See also 'yachting'. There are currently about 6,500 yacht over 24m on the market.Charter yachts are a subset of yachts used for pleasure, cruising or racing, but run as a business for profit. Ownership can be private or corporate. The paid crews of these vessels call themselves 'yachties'.
Yacht lengths normally range from 10 metres (33 ft) up to dozens of meters (hundreds of feet). A luxury craft smaller than 12 metres (39 ft) is more commonly called a cabin cruiser or simply a cruiser. A superyacht generally refers to any yacht (sail or power) above 24 m (79 ft) and a megayacht generally refers to any yacht over 50 metres (164 ft).